The present invention relates to a disposable active humidifier for the mechanical ventilation of a patient.
It is known that the mechanical ventilation of a patient uses dry gases which are humidified before being inspired by the patient. Most commercially available systems are based on the principle of making the gas flow directly over the water contained in a heated container.
The conventional solution has a drawback which is constituted by the relatively high volume of the cartridge, which constitutes an additional bulk; it should be noted that it is very important to reduce bulk, since in mechanical ventilation, in which the pressure of the ventilator expands the lungs of the patient to ventilate him, an extra compressible space is certainly a negative factor.
The aim of the invention is indeed to eliminate the drawbacks mentioned above, which are typical of conventional systems (bacterial contamination and high compressible volume), by providing a disposable active humidifier for the mechanical ventilation of a patient which has a very small bulk and in particular constitutes an integrated segment in the ventilation circuit and in practice therefore does not increase the volume of compressible air.
Within the scope of this aim, a particular object of the invention is to provide a disposable active humidifier which can be prepared in a sterile package which can be connected only once to the patient without requiring further handling with the risk of bacterial contamination.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an active humidifier in which the water remains confined within the cartridge with a continuous supply which in practice forms a closed circuit with no need for connection to the outside.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a disposable active humidifier which, by virtue of its particular constructive characteristics, is capable of giving the greatest assurances of reliability and safety in use.
This aim, these objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are achieved by a disposable active humidifier for the mechanical ventilation of a patient, according to the invention, characterized in that it comprises a cartridge which forms a humidification chamber which is delimited by an inlet and by an outlet and can be interposed in a ventilation circuit, said cartridge having an interspace which is externally delimited by a heat exchange surface and is internally delimited by a hydrophobic membrane which surrounds said humidification chamber, a humidification fluid being introducible in said interspace.